Quarantine is bad for health

Vancouver sunset

 

 

Here I am, in quarantine again.... as I am now returned from visiting my family in Vancouver. 

To say that this is hard would be an understatement.

Another 14 days of being confined to quarters, with nothing to do but talk to my other half (OH), weed the garden, and consider my navel.

The lack of anticipation of big hugs all round makes this second 14 days feel like a very different experience.

Quarantine is bad for my health.

 

Not to mention the health of the airlines. 

 

This is Calgary airport international terminal.

 

My flight to Gatwick was the only flight listed on the board.

 

 

Calgary airport in the time of Covid-19

 

Before I left England I wrote to my MP asking why I had to quarantine on my return when there is much less Covid-19 in Canada than in the UK. 

 

He replied saying that he is too busy to reply. 

I think it is something to do with Brexit.....

Meanwhile I am quietly losing my marbles and the airlines are quietly going bankrupt.

Here is the arrivals area at Gatwick.

Anyway, apart from being just a tiny bit miffed, I am well and had a wonderful time in Vancouver with my family. 

All activities were outdoors, and on some days we could almost forget about the pandemic.

 

 

We walked the seawall. 

We cycled the seawall.

We swam in the sea, in mountain lakes and walked in the forest. 

All were cool and refreshing.

 

There are a lot of pine trees in Canada. 

 

 

 

 

 

And bears...... 

This is classic bear country.

 

Not to mention cougars......

 

Canada is a dangerous country.......

Or so my inner voice tells me whenever I try to walk alone in the forest.

Best to walk in a group. 

Which makes contemplative landscape photography almost impossible for one who is easily spooked.

Playing with a snow shovel on the beach and making pirate ships out of driftwood was much more appealing.

In Harrison Hot Springs I found the Sasquatch less of a threat.....

The Sasquatch is a much revered creature with a conveniently sized 2 metre arm span.

The hot springs were closed...... not so convenient. 

As were the kayaks and bicycle hire.

But my son and I did find ourselves on the set for a new movie 'Solitary'.

On asking, we were initially told that they were filming 'a movie' . 

But we were persistent. 

We dug deeper... and were told that it is about ' a man who has been in solitary confinement for 7 years and is then released into the world in the grip of a covid-19 pandemic  and social isolation'. 

I for one can't wait. Who needs 007?

Social distancing advice from the Sasquatch

When walking alone I decided to 'notice what I notice'.

I am known for noticing traffic cones and small things.

I cannot be the only person to think that the cones of Vancouver have been renamed for the pandemic.

The other thing that I notice in Canada is deciduous trees; mainly because there are so few of them.

I miss them when away from England. They are mostly found only in parks and gardens.

I enjoy the changes of autumn. The beauty of a single leaf left on the tip of a branch.

Mountain, tree, leaf.

Sources of great pleasure.

Enough.  Time to stop writing.

I am in quarantine and have lots to do.....

OH has gone out to do real things like sailing and walk on the beach.

He has left me with some potatoes. I will feast later.

For now I have just had a delivery from the postman; a new book.

'Japanese book binding' by Kojiro Ikegami.

I shall spend the rest of the day learning some different types of Japanese and Chinese bindings.

I will leave you with my video '14 days'..... from my first quarantine.

They really weren't so bad!

Vancouver in the fall - an autumn leaf fest

autumn leaves © Caroline Fraser

I am visiting family in Vancouver at one of my favourite times of year; autumn ( or fall if you live over here).

The colours of the acres and poplars dotted between the tall pines fill me with wonder.

A richness of colours that I don't find back home.

In between rain showers I have crept out with my camera to collect leaves and wander the forest paths. Water dripping from green mosses; the sound of creeks running down the hillside towards the ocean.

I have been playing with fire trucks and reading toddlers' stories in a cosy home at the foot of the mountain. But outdoors is where I really wish to be.

autumn colours © Caroline Fraser

waiting for fall

autumn gold © Caroline Fraser

I started with some long exposures in the dark of the forest, but found myself drawn increasingly to individual leaves.

So many leaves. Not a single one the same.

This is the preoccupation that has been with me this week.

 I tried capturing them first against stones and wood in the landscape, but soon realised that I was looking for a more pure isolation of each leaf.

a single leaf

A portrait, set against a backdrop of some clean creamy paper felt more delicate.

Turn it over and a different beauty emerges.

 More subtle and sparse.

Each different from its neighbour.

Suddenly I am no longer interested in blurry images. I am drawn to the detail.

I keep collecting leaves of different shapes and sizes.

a leaf with no name

And will be carrying some home to work on if they survive the journey.

Finally I found a wonderful jumble of leaves amongst some hostas in Stanley Park.

They form a different scene; resembling a still life with rich dark hues.

Add caption

fall © Caroline Fraser

fall © Caroline Fraser

fall © Caroline Fraser

fall © Caroline Fraser

They remind me of currants and berries.

Organised chaos.

It will soon be all over, as we head towards winter.

All of these images different from the ones I made last year in the same places.

And that is what I love about photography; there is always a new way to find things, as our thoughts about what we see change and develop.

Here are some leaves waiting to fall.....

on entering my second childhood - barbie dolls and bird stones

Primrose

Other half (OH) is getting worried about me.

I have spent my weekend collecting stones and leaves. Stones that look like eggs and stones that have faces. Camber Sands has a plentiful supply, and unlike shopping, stone hunting costs nothing. It is a fine way to spend time on a lovely beach when they skies are grey and the wind is blowing too hard for making photographs.

He feels I am regressing towards five years old. Meanwhile he is advancing rapidly to adulthood, for he has a new telephone.

OH has joined the land of modern technology with a 4G mobile device. He is very pleased with it. I taught him how to send a text message. He is advancing rapidly. Soon he might learn how to take photos with it too. I have avoided upgrading my phone for fear of taking even more photos than I already do.

I haven't told him about my Barbie doll. It would reinforce his view that I am rediscovering my childhood. I found her in an Oxfam shop. She likes to go out in the garden and explore the spring flowers.

When I was 5 I didn't play with dolls, and I have never before owned a Barbie. There is only one problem; she doesn't have many clothes. She has a short skirt. And that is it. No knickers or even a brassiere. And I am not going to go and buy her any. She will have to make do with what she can find.

I chose her for her blue eyes.

Who could resist them?

she can hide behind a rock

In the interests of public decency I have fashioned a top for her.

She looks ravishing in pink.

She can look a bit 'naughty' without her top on. We won't go there. That's a very different story.

Barbie and the magnolia tree

She is hoping to feature in a book of flowers one day.

The main thing is that she injects a bit of frivolity into my 5 year old life, and fun at five is so much better than dullness in my late 'several decades after 5's.

Which brings me onto age and beauty. Barbie never ages. I sadly do.

Have you tried the new how old do I look app?

I couldn't resist it.

I was delighted to be told that I am 4 years younger than I really am. I tested it again on a second photo taken in India a few weeks earlier. That made me only 2 years younger than I really am.

I pointed out to OH that going to India added two years to my life. And it certainly felt like it.

OH pointed out that the holiday had taken two years off my life and that I was now 2 years younger as a result.

We beg to differ.



Anyway........

I shall carry on collecting stones, for that is what I do.

stone eggs

And just so that I can say to OH that I did something with the leaves that were adorning the kitchen table, here is one that looks like a fish. It is from a Magnolia Grandiflora.

leaf fish

I shall carry on playing with my barbie doll.

owl stone

And I shall carry on looking for birds and other animals.

owl

For if nothing else, it will stop me taking pictures of litter.

tree with red plastic bag

For a few minutes at least.

Until the next time.